Christmas Past

By Francis O'Neill

A great stocking filler!
Christmas Past offers the intriguing stories behind why and how we celebrate Christmas.
Did you know:
Santa and Father Christmas are not one and the same person?
Jesus was probably born seven years before the date we have set for his birth?
Christmas, by another name, was celebrated before it became part of the Christian calendar?
The "Star of Bethlehem" was arguably not a star at all but a conjunction of two important planets?
There was an astrological prediction, heralding the arrival of a warrior king/messiah, that was made back in ancient times, well before Jesus was born?

Whether you did or didn't know the answers to these questions, I'm sure you'll find the exploration around them of interest, food for thought.
This beautifully compact book contains six commentaries that cover:
The way we tend to treat Christmas now.
Who was Father Christmas, or Santa Claus?
What lies behind the time of year chosen for Christmas.
If another infant birth could have been born at this time of year – and before Jesus.
The gospels for their take on the Magi, and the birth of Jesus.
And the Star of Bethlehem from an astrological perspective.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Francis O'Neill
• Release date: Oct 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9780993462672

Francis O'Neill

Francis O'Neill is a former archaeologist, a college lecturer and astrologer. He has spent over 40 years researching psychological, spiritual and esoteric perspectives on life; and writes about his findings - or "reports back" as he describes it - through his Making Sense of It book series.

Book preview

Christmas Past

The Intriguing Stories behind Why and How We Celebrate Christmas

Francis O’Neill

A Making Sense of It book

Some Inspiration logo

Christmas Past

The Intriguing Stories behind Why and How We Celebrate Christmas

Copyright © 2019 Francis O’Neill. All Rights Reserved. 

ISBN: 978-0-9934626-7-2 (EPUB version)

Part of this book was previously published under the title And So This is Christmas by Francis O’Neill in 2016.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise, without prior permission, in writing, from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of this information contained herein.

The following images included in the book are courtesy of:

Wikimedia.com

St Nicholas; The God Saturn; The Sun God Mithra;

The Three Magi (By Nina-no - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2176501)

Pexels.com

Father Christmas;

Boy and Christmas tree (by Jeswin Thomas)

A Making Sense of It book

Other titles in the Making Sense of It series include: Life and Death: Making Sense of It | Steps to Health, Wealth & Inner Peace | Love’s Story of Why We Are Here | The Master Key System. For availability, updates and new titles please visit the publisher website.

Some Inspiration Publications

SomeInspiration.com

Cotswolds, UK

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As an author I regard the feedback of my readers highly. If in the course of reading this book you have decided that you enjoy it, would you please consider leaving a thoughtful review of the book; on the bookstore where you purchased it. I’d love to hear how it helped you or impacted on you. I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts on this book. Thank you.

Contents

Introduction

A Merry Secular Christmas

Father Christmas – Yo ho ho!

A Merry Pagan Yuletide

From Mithras to Christmas

Christmas and Jesus’ Birth

Astrology and the Birth of a Messiah

Conclusion

About The Author

Introduction

I hope you find this book, and its commentaries, offering an overview of why and how we celebrate Christmas, of interest, intriguing and possibly of joy to read at this time of year – if it is Christmas time as you are reading it of course. But, if not, I hope you enjoy it whatever time of year it is.

It offers some interesting insights. Did you know for instance?

Santa and Father Christmas are not one and the same person?

Christmas, by another name, was celebrated before it became part of the Christian calendar?

The Star of Bethlehem was arguably not a star at all but a conjunction of two important planets?

There was an astrological prediction, heralding the arrival of a warrior king/messiah, that was made back in ancient times, well before Jesus was born?

Jesus was probably born seven years before the date we have set for his birth?

Whether you did or didn’t know the answers to any of these questions, I’m sure you’ll find the exploration around them of interest, food for thought…

There are six commentaries that discuss or cover:

The way we tend to treat Christmas now.

Who was Father